Dear business partners, dear friends in the industry, welcome to the summer edition of CS WINdow, the Contship Italia Group’s quarterly newsletter. As usual, this newsletter provides you with news, views, analyses and insights about the Italian as well as international markets, served by your Italian supply chain partner of choice.

In this edition, we are delighted to announce that Contship’s flagship terminal in La Spezia (LSCT) has been voted as “Best Container Terminal in Europe” at the 2017 Asian Freight, Logistics and Supply Chain Awards (AFLAS), whose gala dinner took place in Singapore on June 29th.

On top of that, there have been exciting developments with regard to Contship’s intermodal services: Hannibal is now managing directly the rail connection between Melzo and Rotterdam, previously provided by ERS. As clients are expressing a growing demand for this service, Hannibal has increased the number of weekly connections between the two hubs to six round trips per week; this service also offers extended connectivity to and from the United Kingdom, Ireland, Iceland, Scandinavia, the Baltic region, Russia as well as China as part of the one belt one road initiative.

Back to the content of this new CS WINdow: in the "Inside the industry" section, we discuss the development of cargo flows across the Swiss Alps, present an analysis of Western Mediterranean ports' role in Asia-Med traffic growth and an overview of the growth in container throughput at Chinese ports, registered in the first quarter of 2017. In "In the Spotlight", you will find more info about the latest webinar on Fast Corridors, and in the "Latest Updates", more news about recent events, investments and new services.

Enjoy reading and have a wonderful summer!

Your team at Contship

Inside the industry: cargo flows across the Swiss Alps

In 2016, a total of 40.4 million t of goods crossed the Swiss Alps, which marks a new record and corresponds to an increase of 3.7% compared to the year before. The main driver behind the increase in freight volumes is the relatively strong performance of the European economy, which also leads to a high level of foreign trade activities.

The majority of transalpine freight is carried by rail, which compared to road transport continues to grow. The trend is also confirmed by a recent study published by the Swiss Governmental Department for the Environment, Traffic, Energy and Communication (UVEK). The cargo shift from road to rail is continuing, supported by the actions of the European Union, the member states as well as Switzerland. Read the full article.

The Southern Gateway, an alternative corridor to ship cargo from Asia to Europe via the Western Mediterranean hub of La Spezia and vice versa, continues to gain traction. This is part of an overall development that sees cargo flows from Asia to Europe via the Mediterranean picking up, according to the analysts from the consultancy Drewry.

The volume of Westbound shipments on the Asia-Mediterranean trade grew by 16% year-on-year in the first two months of 2017, as the Container Forecaster by Drewry Maritime Research highlights. During January to March 2017, a total of 635,356 TEUs were shipped from Asia to the Western Med. During the same period in 2016, this volume amounted to 602,796 TEUs, which corresponds to an increase of 5.4%. Read the full article.

Inside the industry: strong growth in container throughput at Chinese ports in 1st quarter of 2017

Chinese ports saw significant growth in the first quarter of this year. This growth is especially distinguished when compared to Q1 2016.

According to the official China Ports Statistics, which was released at the end of May, the total container throughput at China’s ports in Q1 2017 (Jan-March 2017) was 53.3 million TEUs, a 7% increase on the same period in 2016 which was 50 million TEUs.

Analysts said the healthy rise was a sign that China’s economy was starting to gain momentum again. Read the full article.

In the spotlight: Contship’s webinar helps to streamline logistic processes

After its successful webinar debut in Italian language in April, Contship Italia launched its first webinar in English at the beginning of June.

The webinar addressed Italy’s cutting-edge customs feature “Fast Corridors”, which are intangible infrastructures designed to facilitate the import process by moving customs procedures from the port of entry to the next logistics node. One of the many benefits the “Fast Corridors” offer is the option to settle the payment of the customs duties based on individual supply chain requirements.

Daniele Testi, Contship Head of Marketing, and Peter Robino from Contship’s Commercial Department presented the main features and benefits of the “Fast Corridors”, now accessible to shippers and shipping companies.

The webinar illustrated the process that has enabled this innovative procedure and shows customers how to benefit most from it, describing the process by which an operator can use a “Fast Corridor”.

Everyone keen to streamline and restructure logistic processes, reduce idle time in the port and end-to-end transit times by moving customs procedures from the terminal to the inland terminal of reference will find this information useful.

Contship Italia will run a series of webinars during the year, addressing various topics relating to integrated supply chain management.